Madame de Staël (1766-1817): from the Enlightenment to the Dawn of Romanticism

Writer, republican, literary theoretician and philosopher, Madamede Staël contributed to the diffusion of ideas in Europe through her travels and her Salon, where she received many European intellectuals.

A Woman of Letters and a Philosopher

Anne-Louise Germaine Necker was born into the Swiss bourgeoisie in 1766 and received an education steeped in the spirit of the Enlightenment. From her childhood, she rubbed shoulders with politicians, talked with the Encyclopaedists and developed an enthusiasm for Rousseau‘s ideas.

Towards an Enlightened Republic

At the start of the French Revolution, Germaine de Staël was in favour of what she felt was progress and a step towards a constitutional monarchy. But after the fall of the monarchy, she left France and took refuge at Coppet in Switzerland and later in England. During this period she wrote many novels, plays and essays.

A European Salon

Between 1795 and 1802, Germaine de Staël watched the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Once she realised he wouldn’t promote the ideals of the Revolution, she fought him on the ideological level. Napoleon exiled her after she wrote ‘Delphine‘ (1802). Unable to publish, she travelled throughout Europe and received many people who were opposed to Napoleon at Coppet, including:

Madame de Staël‘s Conference (drawing by Philibert-Louis Debucourt)Bibliothèque nationale de France, No Copyright – Other Known Legal Restrictions

Coppet was a new sort of gathering place, in transition from the Salons of the Enlightenment to the Cénacle of the Romantic movement. It was a place to exchange opinions and ideas, and drew intellectuals across three generations, of different nationalities, religious views and political opinions. United by the values of liberty, the individual and his rights, respect for others, and equality before the law, they all spread their ideas through their writings and their travels across Europe.

Germaine de Staël returned to France after the fall of Napoleon and was at the pinnacle of her glory during the First Restoration (1814-1815). She died in Paris on 14 July 1817, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison and the beginning of the French Revolution.

Nathalie HersentDepartment of Literature and Art, National Library of France

The blog post is a part of the Rise of Literacy project, where we take you on an exploration of literacy in Europe thanks to the digital preservation of precious textual works from collections across the continent.